Modified from Kathy Patalsky’s Original Article Veggie Burger Basics

If you are like us and love everything veggie you will love this.
This is also great for preparing food for a vegan, vegetarian or health conscious individuals you may have over.
The steps we’ll go over will explain some simple ways to a perfect veggie burger to make for dinner, serve at your next bbq or for a get together.
We will go over Kathy 5 recommended tips as well as provide the key to a perfect veggie burger.
Veggie Burgers are much quicker, healthier and more affordable then traditional meals and are easy to make using these 5 basic tips.
If you are already buying frozen store veggie burgers you may want to start making these today. Not only are these fresher and more nutritious without the added sodium and preserving necessities, they are also much more affordable allowing you to make more for less, quicker and fresher.

This is the most important step to a delicious burger filled with flavorful notes. Adding fresh herbs, spices, jalapeno, chipotle, lemon, cajun, rosemary, basil and more can bring your burger to life. We have used nutritional yeast to add a cheesy flavor, or
agave, maple or honey for a sweet note. For Texture and depth and more of a savory flavor we enjoy adding tahini or hummus.

Binding

The most successful binders we have used have included wheat flour, quinoa, black rice, brown rice, or bread crumbs.
Nut butters like tahini, soaked or dried flax, flax seed meal, or chia seeds are also great binders that add texture and hardiness to the burger.
Seeds are great additions as they absorb moisture helping the process.
When you add a binder you help create a paste like texture thickening the mixture and helping it all stick together.

Cooking

The best way to cook a veggie burger is either in a skillet, a flat top grill, or baked in the oven. If you want to cook them on a grill you will need to cook them in foil pouches otherwise you may lose your burger in the flames. Cooking them in foil pouches will also help keep them away from other meat you may be cooking on the grill. If you are making a large amount of patties they are healthier and easier to bake in the oven
at 350 for about 15 to 20 minutes – How wet and thick you make your patties will determine how long or short you need to cook them.
If you prefer you can also sauté your patties. When we pan saute them we press fresh bread crumbs on them and cook them on
medium heat in extra virgin olive oil for about 3 minutes per side allowing them to crisp up nicely.

Serving

Veggies burgers have complex flavors and textures, and are usually much softer in texture than traditional burgers.
We enjoy toasting sprouted whole grain buns and adding fresh produce for the toppings.
Crisp lettuce or kale, sliced tomato and red onions, avocado, cucumber, and sprouts, are always delicious on a veggie burger.
Fresh Raw apple beet agave salad , or cranberry Kale Salad (see our recipe at attractingwellness.net).
These salads pair wonderfully to the burger.
Vegan condiments like spicy mustard, agave bbq, and vegan mayo are great to add extra flavor.